(L) Seirei no Moribito (Guardian of the Sacred Spirit)

[shinjit]

Originally Posted by Codex

But, it does sound like a pity that the boy's story will be resolved in this storyline. I thought that the relationship between the two would be the overarching theme, but I guess it makes sense that the primary focus is on Balsa.

Kamiyama said in the preview program that he will go deeper into their relationship in TV-original episodes.

Spoiler for books 3 & 4 info:

Their mental relationship is strongly established in the book 1. They meet again briefly in the book 3. And the book 4 is a story about Chagum!

NHK is broadcasting Episode 2 tomorrow morning, but I can't see it this time. I'll be waiting for your comments.

[Joojoobees]

Originally Posted by kauldron26

so ummm... has anyone seen better animation in an anime that tops this?? because i cant really think of any. The movement, fluidity, backgrounds... just... wow... and no we are not including movies.

Yeah, call me superficial, but one of the things that makes an anime work for me is the quality of the artwork. Having seen only one episode, it is far too early to make assessments on plot (or say much about characters), but the artwork on this show so far has really got me grinning. Even if they somehow screwed up the story, I would probably keep watching this show just to enjoy the animation.

Something that really hasn't been discussed on the board so far is the masterful way the fight scenes have been handled. In fact, I'll say the way the ACTION scenes have been handled, so I can include the bridge scene. These scenes really shine as far as I am concerned, because they are so plausible as things that can happen in an actual space.

Spoiler for fight scene in chamber:

To take the shortest "fight" scene: where Balsa holds the 2nd empress at spear-point. The motions involved in taking the covering off the spearhead, and kicking the spear up from the ground were all clearly indicated in a convincing way. No animation "magic", like a flash of light, to pretend she is faster than normal humans. Just a clear, logical demonstration of the fact that, if you mess with Balsa, you WILL lose.

[Joojoobees]

Originally Posted by shinjit

I don't think they'll make a sequel anime, but if they do, it's going to be as great as the current one. Actually I love best the second story "Yami no Moribito" (The Guardians of Darkness).

According to the Production IG website, the anime will cover books 1 and 2:
http://www.productionig.com/contents...53_/index.html

[Saffire]

Originally Posted by kauldron26

so ummm... has anyone seen better animation in an anime that tops this?? because i cant really think of any. The movement, fluidity, backgrounds... just... wow... and no we are not including movies. Seriously what anime series has had better animation?? The best animation in anime series i have seen till this day is Basilisk, Gankutsuo and Eureka Seven. But then again Gankutsuo's style was very, very different. Remember great animation is not just about character design, or a specific scene, but an amalgamation of all aspects.

Mmm.. I remember Mushishi having great animation as well. I got a Miyazaki-like vibe from it. Fantastic Children also had some great animation, and you could tell the director was trying to make it as good as he possibly could, though he used a more simplistic style. (Testament in the character designs). But Seirei no Moribito's animation is fantastic indeed.

[issei]

seirei no moribito definitely epitomizes how effective high production values are.

Originally Posted by Joojoobees

Yeah, call me superficial, but one of the things that makes an anime work for me is the quality of the artwork.

i don't think that's superficial; rather, that's getting at the core of what makes anime an effective medium: the visual, and visual aesthetics.

seirei is definitely at or near the top, but of this season, rxj and gurren-lagann are also hitting high marks in different ways.

[wrex_japan]

Ep. 2 summary and screencaps.

Barsa prepares for her flight, the Stargazer Shuga gets more indepth info about why they fear what's inside Chagum, and Hunters are sent after them.

[Jazzrat]

art is also a part of animation but imo, shouldnt be used too easily to judge the quality of an anime since there's no definite term for good artwork.

Seirei no Moribito is probably one of the prettiest anime this season but what made it shine for me was the amount of details they put into animating the scenes.

[Kaoru Chujo]

This show and Touka Gettan can get by on art/animation alone. And they both have music that creates great atmosphere. In both cases, we have to see how the plot develops.

But the show is only really alive for me when Balsa is on screen. Andou Mabuki continues to just floor me. Nice character development in ep2 for Chagumu, though, too.

[7Th]

Originally Posted by kauldron26

so ummm... has anyone seen better animation in an anime that tops this?? because i cant really think of any. The movement, fluidity, backgrounds... just... wow... and no we are not including movies. Seriously what anime series has had better animation?? The best animation in anime series i have seen till this day is Basilisk, Gankutsuo and Eureka Seven. But then again Gankutsuo's style was very, very different. Remember great animation is not just about character design, or a specific scene, but an amalgamation of all aspects.

I have. Besides the usual movies, all of IG's but Tsubasa top this of course, there are quite a few number of shows with a better animation than the one shown in Seirei no Moribito which is nothing impressive so far. Noein, Paranoia Agent, Samurai Champloo and Kemonozume for starters. But I won't start another discussion on anime visuals here, there have been quite a few involving me.

[MrProphet]

There was too much talking in episode 2. They've set up the backstory of the circumstances of Chagum's flight quite nicely, but still.... too... much... TALKING.

Though, I still liked the attention to minutiae details that made the episode seem quite realistic (for a fantasy) and definitely a very thorough adaptation of a novel (as opposed to a stand-alone screenplay). The long dialogues really did seem like they were picked up verbatim from a literary text.

All in all, it was a much less impressive episode than the first one purely from the point of view of flashiness, but it was alright. Worse than the first, but still likable.

Shuga seems like a sympathetic character at this point in time, especially compared to the High Priest, but I already doubt his straightforwardness. He reminds me too much of Ibaragi Soutetsu from Iroha, if you know what I mean. He's too good to be true at this point.

Tooya really reminds me of Rakushun. And not just because of his teeth. 8) I also liked Chagum's guarded resilience, uncharacteristic for a common fantasy/anime noble (Barsa says as much).

So, in brief, episode 2 was most a bridge between episode 1 and the set up of the story, and the episode 3, where the first serious action occurs and we are treated to Barsa's backstory. As a bridge, it's not very exciting, but now that we've got all of that talking out of the way, I expect some great things. The preview is really promising.

[Asrialys]

LOL Geneon licensed it already? And it's only been a week.

[7Th]

Originally Posted by Asrialys

LOL Geneon licensed it already? And it's only been a week.

They funded the production... it was pre-licensed.

[Sonhex]

Well I agree with MrP, not quite as impressive by virtue of lots of talking and slow building of character. I sorely lament for subs as I'm never going to be able to follow such rambling exposition. Still, the animation, Barsa's movements in particular is wonderful to behold. Shuga is surprisingly benign, I did wonder if he was one who jinxed the ox in ep 1 but it doesn't look like he is quite as malevolent as the OP suggests.

Unfortunately it ends at a real cliffhanger and I'm a little annoyed at having seen part of the upcoming fight, because pieceing together what's in the preview...

Spoiler for ep3 speculation:

...Barsa goes all out to defeat the King's assassins, gets injured and we are treated flashbacks to her youth while she recovers.

Still, I think ep 3 will be unforgettable nonetheless.

[shinjit]

Originally Posted by Joojoobees

According to the Production IG website, the anime will cover books 1 and 2:
http://www.productionig.com/contents...53_/index.html

Since the story of book 2 takes place in Kambal and has nothing to do with Chagum or Tanda, they must use only a part of it, most likely Barsa's background in Kambal.

I've read the story of episode 3 at the official site and found the fight scene is a little different from the original. I prefer the original.

[issei]

although i wish the heavy exposition of episode 2 had been handled differently in order to preserve some momentum, the visuals remained captivating and detail-oriented. my enthusiasm for the series has flagged slightly, but the preview for episode 3 looked amazing.

[DieH@rd]

Ep1 is a masterpiece on so many levels. Cant wait for episode 2 sub...

[wao]

Originally Posted by issei

although i wish the heavy exposition of episode 2 had been handled differently in order to preserve some momentum, the visuals remained captivating and detail-oriented. my enthusiasm for the series has flagged slightly, but the preview for episode 3 looked amazing.

Took the words out of my mouth. Exactly what I felt too.

This episode also reaffirmed my opinion tha the visual strength of this series lies not in the animation itself but the processing, colours and composition of the various scenes. And the background of course. If you looked just at the animation alone the only bits that must've been anything worth noting for me would have been Barsa sitting with her halberd, and later on Barsa and Chagum's pursuers. (although I watched it half-asleep so perhaps I missed out something.)

I'm hoping the fight in ep 3 will be an exception to this; it reminds me of that awesome fight in the pilot film...


Coincidentially, despite the animation in episode 2 being what it was (nothing terrible though, really), it was an admirable effort for just 4 animators, and furthermore I believe they're mostly still not experienced key animators. They're from P.A. Works if I'm not wrong.

[Aniki Meiski]

It's much harder to adapt from novel to TV than from comics to TV. At this point, the author went into even greater detail about what happen in the past.

They could have move the entire exchange between Shuga and the High Priest to after the BIG FIGHT to keep up the TV momentum. They could have also interspersed the dense dialogue between Shuga and Hibitonan with visuals with mural paintings inside the building depicting what happened 250 years ago.

It is hard to keep the balance of being faith to the novel and at the same time taking risk alterating the narrative to fit into a TV format.

[DieH@rd]

Originally Posted by Aniki Meiski

It's much harder to adapt from novel to TV than from comics to TV. At this point, the author went into even greater detail about what happen in the past.

Just like 12 Kingdoms. Lots of backstory... [when I say lots, i men unholy amounts]

[7Th]

Episode 4 will be storyboarded by Masayuki Yoshihara... if they manage to get a hold of his style we'll probably get something very good out of it.